"You still don't know how to count?" Akira swung her legs at the dinner table, watching in amusement as Yuma tried to protect the platter of tempura from an enraged Kou. "This is your fourth one already! Save the rest for Asuza and her!" Yuma jerked a thumb at Akira who was having a hard time trying to control the twitch of her lip. These days, she felt so lighthearted. Yuma was Edgar, her childhood friend. He still had no idea, so she assumed he had lost his memory in the fire. She still didn't know how to approach him on the matter. At the same time, while she wasn't too concerned, Akira sometimes overheard their whispered conversations during gatherings late in the night when they thought Akira was asleep. The Mukamis often discussed progress on their plan such and subjects such as the 'Eve'. From what she could gather, Yui as a Bride would be fulfilling some martial duty for their master, whom they reverently referred to as 'him.' She knew they woul eventually find out she wasnt the true Bride,, but something held her back from spilling the truth. It wasn't mainly to protect Yui anymore. It was for a more selfish reason.
Akira was also pretty sure Ayato had been at the mansion several nights ago. Laito did mention he was searching for her, but Akira felt no inclination to return to her brothers just yet. Yui was free now, s Akira was happy. She could enjoy her own life now.
Her attention was retuned to the face-off between Yuma and Kou over the dinner table for the tempura. "It's fine, you can have mine..." She picked up the tempura from her plate and deposited it on Kou's. His azure eyes lit up in delight. He stopped bickering with Yuma and bounced over to wrap her in a hug. "Wow, thank you! You're an angel," he sighed happily. Yuma rolled his eyes. "You spoil him, just like Ruki." He dumped more vegetables on her plate. They were the tomatoes from the garden. Over her Tay here, Yum had sort of recruited her as his garden-helper, and she had harvested thousands of the fruits Yuma's plants had bore. "Eat these instead," he muttered, not looking at her. Akira's chest felt warm. She popped one of the baby tomatoes into her mouth, savouring the taste of the tangy juice. "Thank you..."
"Ruki...isn't here..." Asuza murmured. The dining hall door clicked shut. Yuma glanced up. "Ha?Weren't you going to fetch him?"
Asuza sat down at the table and stared at his food. "He said...he didn't want any..."
"Hm." The dining hall was strangely silent after. When the meal was finished, Akira helped clear the plates. As she left, she heard Kou say in hushed tones to Yuma.
"Ruki's been in a bad mood lately, huh..."
"The Awakening is coming slower than expected."
Awakening? Did this have something to do with the 'Adam' they all kept mentioning?
Akira's best guess was that this had something to do with the 'Eve'. That was Yui, wasn't it? The how about the 'Dawn'?
Someone grabbed her wrist. Akira startled, then relaxed as she realised it was Ruki. She offered him a small smile. Oh, you said you weren't coming for dinner..." Ruki's blue eyes were distant. "Come with me." Without an explanation, he began walking quickly down the hall, his grip on her wrist growing tighter with each step before they were full on running, with Akira stumbling along to keep up with his striding pace.
"Ruki—where are we going?"
"Quiet." he said coldly, stunning Akira. His voice was even more cold than it had been when they first met.
Ruki led her into a wing of the mansion she had yet to explore and kicked open a door down one of the dim, musty hallways. He pushed her in. Akira stumbled , gazing at Ruki with hurt nod confusion. "Ruki..."
"You'll stay here for a while." Ruki told her without emotion. He cornered her against the wall with its peeling wallpaper. The stench of mildew and dust coated Akira's throat, making it difficult to breathe. Her head spun as Ruki roughly snapped her head to the side and bit her hard. It stung, badly. He pulled away abruptly, staring at his trembling hand. The strength in Akira's legs left her. She crumpled to the ground. Vampires didn't tremble.
